The present disclosure relates to a continuous-flow power installation for conversion of mechanical energy to a different energy form, preferably electrical energy. The disclosure will be described with reference to a wind energy installation, which converts the energy from an air flow to electrical energy. However, it should be noted that the disclosure can also be used for other types of energy convertors or power installations, for example wave, tide or hydroelectric power installations.
Wind energy installations are known in which a nacelle is mounted on a tower such that it can rotate. A robust support plate or a support frame accommodates the individual components of the drive train—for example rotor bearing, rotor shaft, transmission, generator—and transmits their static and dynamic loads to the tower. The support plate at the same time forms the lower part of the nacelle, which surrounds the drive train in the form of a protective housing. As stated, the support plate is designed to be very robust since, in the case of installation power levels in the Megawatt range, for example, it must support a rotor torque of the order of magnitude of 100 000 Nm or more. This configuration using a support plate is described, for example, in DE 1184567 A2. L-shaped support frames are described, for example, in DE 29609794 U1.
The heavy weight of the support plate and the large amount of space required in the nacelle, which results with the described split configuration of the drive train, are disadvantageous.
Approaches exist for integration of a transmission and generator in a common housing, as is described in DE 10 2004 046 563 B4 or DE 10 242 707 B3. In addition, in some cases, a transmission and the rotor bearing are combined to form a physical unit, for example in EP 11 84 567A2 or WO 1996/011338 A1.
However, concepts such as these have the disadvantage of the increased maintenance effort which results, for example, when an integrated component element is replaced.